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One morning last fall when the weather was still unseasonably warm, my wife and I were playing tennis at the park. We played a couple times a week last year and enjoyed people-watching in between games and sets.
This particular morning, I watched a young, twenty-something couple meet in the middle of a large field. They were holding masks in hand and maintaining physical distance per state health guidelines. Standing the entire time, it looked as though they were courting lovers having a quarrel.
The calm quarreling went on for some time—several games of tennis, in fact, until finally I watched the couple embrace and kiss after seemingly working out their differences. “Young love beat COVID today,” I mentioned to my wife with a smile. The romantic in me was proud to see the blatant disregard for quarantine restrictions. My wife just rolled her eyes.
It was the cutest thing, really. I then called the Mask Gestapo and both lovers were immediately detained for being a menace to public health. Thank, heavens!
NOTE: Everything but the last two sentences are true.
Running man at Delicate Arch
I’m conflicted about this year.
On the one hand, 2020 has been the most difficult year of my life. After pandemic struck, I was underemployed and making less than half my normal income for much of the year. As a social butterfly that values gatherings, events, and travel, it’s been hard to pretend to be something I’m not: an introverted, ineffectual homebody that’s suppose to keep their distance.
To be asked to do this for an indefinite period of time is even worse, especially after a country of 10 million (Sweden) has avoided lockdowns, face masks, and closed businesses, even though their death rate is better than Spain, Italy, France, and America (who all opted for strict closures and mask use — go figure).
On the other hand, there’s a lot more to like about 2020 than not. In fact, it’s far from being the “dumpster fire” it’s been called. Although I wouldn’t consider it my favorite year, it’s certainly the most memorable. Here’s why: Continue reading…
I was a mess the first two weeks of quarantine. My wife of 17 years said she had never seen me so stressed.
What did I do to cope?
I started writing music at a frantic pace and recorded 18 original songs in the first three months of shutdown. Twelve of those songs made it on my debut album that’s available for streaming and download on August 20.
One of the songs that really help me move from stress to at least some kind of clarity was called “Control What You Can.” With exception to the bridge, it ‘s only two chords and it has an uneasy feeling, the same feeling most of us felt when the world changed.
But in spite of the uneasy sound, I wrote the encouraging lyrics for myself, pleading to “control what I could” when there was so much I couldn’t control. It was a wonderful realization that help me turn a corner; from stress into action.
When I went to record the song, it was late at night. With my floor lamp and headphones on, I spent several hours on the production and immediately knew I had captured a special sound, arguably the most professional track on the the entire album. By the end, I recorded a simple but righteous guitar solo and sung my heart out during an extended outro.
This is that song. It’s pretty moody. And although the music doesn’t sound very uplifting, the lyrics completely are, which is a juxtaposition that I really like and hope you do to.
